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Scarborough fire related to Sri Lankan conflict, monk says

By Madeleine WhiteIain MarlowStaff Reporters

Sat., May 16, 2009timer3 min. read

A Buddhist monk believes a suspected arson at a temple in Scarborough is related to the ongoing conflict in Sri Lanka.

The fire sent three monks running for safety from the building on Kingston Rd. just south of Military Trail Rd., at about 4:30 a.m. after its east emergency entrance was found burning. Police and the Ontario Fire Marshal's Office are investigating.

Nalaka, a resident monk, said he believes the incident is connected to the war in Sri Lanka. He also said the monks have been threatened in the last week.

The incident has caused upset across Toronto's Sinhalese community.

"Every single Sinhalese person in Toronto is calling each other right now," said a man who attends the temple but did not want to be named. "It's very alarming."

Fire investigator James Gillespie estimates damage at $20-30,000. Police are looking at two bottles found near the door which may have been filled with accelerant, he said.

Members of the Sinhalese Buddhist community gathered outside the temple this afternoon said they had no doubts about who was responsible: Canadian Tamil Tigers supporters.

Bundula Jayasekara, Sri Lanka's Consul General in Toronto, said the Sinhalese Sri-Lankan residents in Toronto have been threatened for years.

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"There is a Mafia," Jaysekara said, speaking of some Toronto Tamils who he said support the Tigers. "People don't feel safe here and this is a G8 country."

Bundara Seneviratne, vice president of the Toronto Buddhist Centre, said the temple has received threatening phone calls for weeks. A note posted to a door about two weeks ago referred to the ongoing Tamil protest downtown.

"I suspect this may be the beginning of some worse things," he said.

Senthan Nada, a spokesperson for the Coalition to Stop the War in Sri Lanka, said today Canadian Tamils do support the Tamil Tigers because they represent the "aspirations of the Tamil people." But Nada stressed local Tamils have been interested solely in peaceful protests and trying to engage Canadian politicians, not in violence.

"It's a police inquiry," he said, adding that any accusations Tamils are responsible for setting the fire would be "false allegations."

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Nada said: "This is not something the community is interested in doing."

But at the fire scene, Kumar Gunasekera, 32, said members of Toronto's Tamil community have been indoctrinated by the Tamil Tigers.

"They're calling Prabakharn their leader," he said, referring to the leader of the Tamil Tigers, a wanted terrorist.

The fire comes less than a week after the main Buddhist temple of the Sri Lankan Buddhist community in France was attacked on May 10. Extensive damage was caused during the incident. The Asian Tribune is reporting monks and community leaders believe it was organized by the international network of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.

Friday night the Sri Lankan government announced it took control of the island's entire coastline and hoped to end the conflict with the Tamil rebels by the end of the weekend.

Meanwhile, several thousand Tamil demonstrators occupied parts of downtown Toronto for several hours last night prior to a planned candlelight vigil outside the United States consulate on University Ave.

For a time, the demonstrators blocked part of the intersection of Yonge and Dundas Sts., refusing to move until they could be addressed by a federal Conservative MP.

Police estimate there are about 400 protesters out this morning and have no information as to whether the crowd will grow throughout the day.

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